


Divine Adjudication

by Kiss_Shining



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, I suppose I deserve what I get, Implied Romance, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Not deleting it though :/, Offhand Fic, sigh I should have finished the series first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 08:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19314499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiss_Shining/pseuds/Kiss_Shining
Summary: After a year of uncomfortable silence, Goku returns back to Earth with a surprise. For some, it's a pleasant one. For Vegeta, not so much.





	Divine Adjudication

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I bit the bullet and started to watch Super, and it’s…definitely different than DB/Z. But there are definitely things that I’m appreciative of, and there’s things I kind of preferred from the older versions. So I kind of just…merge the two. I’ll probably continue to do so in my upcoming fanfics as well. ^^;; (I guess the same can be said of the EN and JP versions of this series...)
> 
> This isn’t really that serious, just an off-hand idea I had after I watched the Champa + Beerus fight (which was so sweet). I haven’t seen the Tournament of Power or the Goku Black arc yet, so please excuse me if this idea has been done already and/or conflicts with canon events.

“ _You are an interesting one, Son Goku_.”

  
  
He came back to Earth for a purpose, but he already knew how it would turn out. Which is why, instead of immediately returning home or slipping by Capsule Corp, he instead found himself standing on the sandy shores of the Kame House. Before he could even raise his hand—as Android 18 now lived here as well and he had some sort of tact—the door had already opened to a smiling Krillin.

“I knew it! It _was_ you, Goku. I almost didn’t recognize your ki.” He stepped forward, his arms extended for a warm embrace. “How have you been? It feels like ages since you’ve last come here to visit. Wait, what’s with those clothes?”

Those clothes being an entirely overbearing teal, frilly, long-sleeved body suit, accompanied by a button-down azure jacket with thin maroon-tinted lining, an orange belt loosely wrapped around his waist, and bright red shoes that brought way too much attention to themselves. Goku laughed nervously.

“Ah, this? Yeah, I hate it too. It’s too stuffy, you know?” He pulled at his collar to demonstrate. “But Kaioshin-sama says that it’s necessary whenever I go out. Something about traditions or something like that. But now that I’m back on Earth, I’m probably going to switch back into my own gi. Wanna come?”

“Sure, just give me a second.” Krillin ran back into the Kame House, and when he came out, his daughter was on his shoulders. At Goku’s curious gaze, he said, “Android 18’s out right now, and I can’t leave her alone. I’d rather she or I watch her.”

Goku hummed, leaning down to pat Marron on the head. She giggled, leaning into his touch, and Goku’s lips quirked into a smile.

“She’s grown up a lot, hasn’t she.”

“Yeah. She’ll be making nine pretty soon. It seems like just the other day that she got out of diapers.” Krillin tightened his hold on his daughter, and the two of them flew up carefully, Goku for the sake of Krillin, and Krillin for the sake of Marron, before they sped off to East District. For the most part, Krillin was the one doing the talking, but Goku didn’t mind at all.

After everyone had split ways when the battle between Beerus and Champa ended, Goku had holed himself up to train and he didn’t come up for air, much to his friends’ slight dismay. And then the tournament with all twelve universes came and went, and he realized how insignificantly weak he was. There was room to grow, and Goku chased desperately after that gap, unfortunately with the price of spending quality time with his family and friends. Now that he was going to be on Earth for a little while, the very least he could do now was listen to what Krillin had to say.

 “I thought it would be a lot longer until you came back,” Krillin said as his feet touched to the ground.  He placed Marron gently on the grassy fields, and she pouted a bit, displeased that she wasn’t getting a free ride anymore. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, I’m glad to have you back, Goku. But did something happen?”

“You could say that.” Without elaborating, Goku strolled right passed him and opened the door to his house, glancing back at Krillin to see if he would follow, before announcing his presence. Like moths to a flame, Chichi and Goten gathered around him, lathering him with warm welcomes and sweet praises. He took it all in with a small laugh, relieved that they were still alright. But it wasn’t as if they hadn’t fared even longer without him, so perhaps he shouldn’t have been worried.

He broke away from them to change into his orange gi, and after a little bit of convincing, he got Chichi and Goten to come along with him on an impromptu visit to see Gohan, who thankfully was at home with his wife and child. Much like Krillin, he was pleasantly surprised to see Goku.

“Dad!” Gohan bum-rushed Goku and gave him a hug, and Goku patted his shoulder. “It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you. Where have you been? Wait, are those…Potara earrings?” Gohan leaned forward a bit to touch one, but Goku backed away, laughing a tad bit uneasily.

“Ah, yeah, something like that. Besides that, are you free right now? I figured we could do a last-minute party kinda thing at Bulma’s. From what I’ve heard from Krillin, everyone hasn’t seen each other in a long time.”

Gohan glanced back at Videl, who gave him a small shrug and a smile. “Well, I don’t mind. Incidentally, I took off today since I was apparently pushing myself a bit too hard. But won’t Bulma get upset? I mean, I’m sure she’s got her own work to do too.”

“Nah, she won’t be too mad.” And then he thought about it for a moment and added, “Probably.”

Gohan frowned. He didn’t seem too impressed, but he knew better than to try and argue it. “You should at least call her beforehand, dad. Do you need to use my phone?”

“Nope! Got my own that she gave to me a while back.”

“Then we’ll wait until she agrees to it.”

“Geez, Gohan, I told you that everything would be just fine.” He still called anyways, hovering a few feet in the air just in case it turns out she did blow a fuse and an eardrum. He watched as Chichi and Gohan caught up and Videl and Krillin made small talk, and he felt something unwind within him. He felt invigorated enough that when the line finally connected, he was the first to give an exuberant greeting.

“Hey, Bulma!”

“I’m surprised. You actually remembered to contact me, Son-kun.” The bite in her voice wasn’t hard to miss, and Goku winced a bit.

“Yeah, sorry about that…I got a bit caught up.”

She huffed. “Obviously you did. So? What’s up?”

“I wanted to have a party at your place, so I got almost everyone so we could do it. That’s okay, right?”

On the other side of the line, Bulma took a deep breath. “So you’re telling me that after not talking to me for the entire year, not talking to _anyone_ for the entire year, you get the brilliant idea to throw a party at my place, and I, the host, am the last to hear of it?”

“Well I mean. You’re not the _last_ ; I haven’t told Piccolo or Dende yet—”

“You…” She trailed off for a moment, struggling to find to put what she felt in the least offensive way possible, and then she gave up with a sigh. “Oh, alright. How long until you get here?”

“I’m at Gohan’s right now, so not too long, about five minutes maybe?”

“You’ve got to give me more time than that, Son-kun. Think you can find a way to burn up an hour for me?”

“Sure! So after an hour, you’ll definitely be ready?”

“I’ll try to do the best I can,” she sighed again, and Goku felt a bit bad for her.

“Sorry about this…”

“Sometimes I have to wonder about that. Alright, then I’ll see you in a bit.” She hung up, and Goku returned to the ground. He told everyone that she needed an hour, and Chichi’s bowels of mercy proved to be greater than his. She insisted on helping Bulma, and Videl quickly followed suit. Videl carried Chichi, Krillin took Marron, and Gohan decided to find Piccolo, which left Goku to find Dende.

Trying to abide by Bulma’s wishes, Goku tried to take his time, but even at his lowest speed, it took him only ten minutes to find Dende and tell him. He resorted to seeking out Yamcha and Puer to hopefully take more time out, but that was only another ten minutes. Tien was a bit harder at twenty minutes, but that was only because he had hidden himself behind a waterfall and lowered his ki lower than Goku recognized it. Even then, it wasn’t as if Goku was giving any real effort to find him either. After going back to the Kame House to visit Master Roshi, he finally managed to burn off an hour. By the time he brought Master Roshi to Capsule Corp, everything was already set up.

Goku greeted everyone formally, dodging any real questions they tossed him that hit a little too close to home, although he did share an anecdote about a strange planet he happened to come across when he was training with King Kai. His captive audience laughed alongside him, and he grinned, happy that if nothing else, he was able to see his family and friends together again. But his mind wandered, and he scanned the garden for the one person that was missing.

He sought out Vegeta’s ki and—something that he’s been able to do since they did the Potara fusion—tugged at it, beckoning it closer. He felt resistance at first, but when he pushed again, it relented, if only for a moment. Minutes after, Vegeta’s ki became clearer and clearer until he was seen flying above Capsule Corp. He landed right outside of the garden behind some bushes, but Goku wasn’t going to let him get away with that.

“Hey, Vegeta! Didn’t expect to see here you here too.”

Vegeta visibly bristled before he folded his arms.

“Don’t lie. You called me when I was in the middle of training.” He paused, staring at Goku for a long time, and then stalked forward until he was practically inches away from him. And then with a hiss, he reached forward and ripped out the right Potara earring from his earlobe, clenching onto it tight enough that the metal crinkled slightly under the pressure. He ignored the momentary wince on Goku’s face and the gasps from those close enough to witness what happened, and he dangled the slightly flattened earring in front of Goku’s face.

“Who have you fused with to obtain these?”

Goku rubbed his ear with a whine. “That really hurt, Vegeta…”

“I’ll _really_ give you something to complain about if you don’t answer my question.”

Still rubbing his ear, Goku said, “I didn’t fuse with anyone.”

“Then what of this?”

“That’s mine.”

Dende, who was originally observing the entire interaction in the corner, tentatively stepped forward.

“Um…I’ve been wondering about this since I first saw you,” he started, and everyone turned to him. “Have you, by any chance, become a Supreme Kai?”

Everyone turned back to Goku, faces aghast, and Goku laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Guess the cat’s out the bag now, huh.”

It was then that things became real lively, far too many questions flooding in for Goku to possibly keep up with. They wanted to know everything: how he got there, why he got there, and a bunch of other questions that would take too long to explain to each and every one of them. In the midst of the sudden pandemonium, Vegeta left without a word. And seeing that he was the real reason why Goku held this impromptu party in the first place, after giving his friends and family an excuse off the top of his head, Goku chased after him.

* * *

_“I would like to offer a proposition to you, if you’re interested.”_

  
  
“Wait up, Vegeta!”  He sped up a tad, just so he could be a few paces behind Vegeta, and then in the middle of the woods, Vegeta stopped short. Goku had to move back a bit so he wouldn’t collide into him. Wordlessly, he turned around to face Goku. After a long while, his face finally yielded to a bitter scowl.

“So.” Vegeta clenched his fists and folded his arms. “You disappear for a year without telling anyone, and then, in some sort of roundabout way of gaining my attention, you throw a party to thrust your new status in my face. Well, you’ve accomplished your goal.”

“No, that ain’t it,” Goku replied, and then amended when Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. “Well yeah, I’ll admit I wanted to get your attention, but not for that reason. Just hear me out, will you?”

Goku could have counted his lucky stars when Vegeta didn’t budge.

“I heard that everyone hasn’t seen each other for close to a year,” he began, “and I thought it would be real nice if we threw a party. And ’s not like I’ve got a whole lot of time on Earth, so it would be better if we did it sooner than later.”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“That isn’t the only reason,” he confirmed. “I came to Earth to ask you to come with me.”

“…for what? I have no need to join you on your silly charades.”

“I want you to train with me in the Other World.”

Without missing a beat, Vegeta said, “No.”

Goku’s face fell. “But you could get stronger that way!”

“I’ll become stronger on my own. I don’t need your help. And it’s not like training with you would be beneficial for me anyways. You _are_ a Supreme Kai after all,” Vegeta retorted with a sneer.

“Well, that’s true, but you and I are—”

“—about the same? Was that what you were going to say?” At Goku’s silence, Vegeta huffed. “You must be delusional. Becoming a Supreme Kai means that you stand above humanity. You are one who helps to create and govern the universe. Simply becoming stronger cannot triumph that, try as anyone might. And a Super Saiyan God is a god in strength only. Its usefulness only expands to the battlefield and nothing more.”

“Then you can become a Supreme Kai too.”

“Do you think me pitiful enough to willingly become your lackey?”

“You wouldn’t be working under me, though. The Omni-King wanted to make me the Grand Supreme Kai, but I turned it down, so I’m only the Supreme Kai of the Northern part of the universe. Which means you can still be the West or the South Supreme Kai.”

“I don’t need any favors, and disregarding that, I’m not suited for such a task. Ask someone else.”

“But Vegeta! You’re the only one who I can ask to do something like this. You really don’t have to do anything; you just gotta watch a bunch of planets and make sure nothing happens, that’s all. C’mon, please?”

Vegeta refused to say anything else, and Goku eventually gave in. He still had a little bit of time to change his mind.

“Just think about it, alright? Promise me.”

But he hadn’t, just turned away from Goku, and Goku felt his chest plunge a bit further. Sighing, he flew back to Capsule Corp, hesitating only when he felt Vegeta’s gaze lingering on his retreating back. He thought of turning around, but he knew that whatever hesitation Vegeta himself would have had would completely evaporate if he did—if there was anything Vegeta hated, it was being caught off-guard and red-handed—so he continued on, ignoring the heat on his back until it cooled and left.

He was greeted to even more questions than he left with upon his return to the party, and he sat back at the table that, despite the overabundance of food, felt rather desolate to him. A wandering thought tickled the back of his mind, and he pondered for a moment if it had to do with Vegeta’s refusal, but he quickly brushed it away. Even if that was the case, there was no need to dwell on it. If he knew Vegeta as well as he thought he did, then Vegeta would give in eventually.

If Goku was brutally honest with himself, he didn’t need Vegeta. Vegeta wasn’t the only strong person in the universe, but he was the closest to him. And if Goku had to work with someone—or perhaps, when it came to half of the universe, _against_ someone—he would rather it be him. Besides, he would rather not be the only one to get chewed out by Beerus each and every time he came to visit Goku at King Kai’s place.

So this was fine. He’d place his bets on Vegeta.

For the next two days, Goku passed the time by picking a lifetime’s worth of crops, making up for lost time with his adorable granddaughter, and training. Even if he was a Supreme Kai, he had to keep his skills up. And it wasn’t as if he entered this while forsaking his strength. If he was to be a Supreme Kai, then he would have to do it while training; that was his condition. It took an incredible amount of concentration, but he managed to pull it off after a while.

On the third day, he sought Vegeta’s ki out once more. He found him in the Gravity Room, and Goku smirked. Lifting his fingers to his forehead, he used Instant Transmission to transport himself to him, immediately blocking a kick with his arm. Vegeta jumped back and Goku waved.

“Hey Vegeta! You wanna spar together?”

Vegeta’s scowl spread faster than Goku had ever seen before, and he couldn’t resist the grin if he tried. There was always something so thrilling about getting under his skin.

“I thought I told you from last time that I wasn’t going to do it.”

“Now, now, don’t say that.” Goku approached Vegeta until they were almost inches from each other, and then he bent down. The Potara earrings that dangled on either side of his face served as a potent reminder of what he was, what Goku was _really_ here for, and his eyes remained firmly fixed on Vegeta’s own. “If you don’t fight me now, I’ll just assume that you’re not strong enough to keep with me and consider this a loss. And you don’t want to lose against me, do you?”

 “…damn you.” Without waiting for Goku, Vegeta lashed forward with a grunt, aiming a solid punch for his sternum, gritting his teeth when Goku leaned back and blocked it with a smug smirk. Vegeta knew as well as Goku did that his competitive spirit against Goku in particular was a double-edged sword. It was his motivation to better himself, but it was also his Achilles heel. What made it worse was that this wasn’t the first—and probably not the last—time Goku took advantage of that.

“That’s the spirit!” Goku feigned a side-kick before he aimed a rising punch to Vegeta’s solar plexus, one that would have made contact if it hadn’t been for the last minute ki blast in his face. Like this, they fought for hours, only stopping when there was a rap on the door. It was Trunks and Goten, which wouldn’t have given either of them pause if Bulma’s irate voice didn’t ring out seconds later. Reluctantly, they pulled apart, and Goku laid on the floor with a stretch and a contented sigh, watching lazily as Vegeta turned off the machine.

“Did you think about my offer?”

“I thought I gave you my answer from before. I’m a Saiyan, Kakarot, and as a Saiyan, I fight. Nothing more, and nothing less. I have no desire to meddle in the affairs of others.”

“But that’s exactly what you did when you saved the Earth.” At Vegeta’s piercing glare, Goku continued. “Am I wrong? ‘S not like you’re an Earthling or anything, and you weren’t raised here like I was. So by all means, you were meddling in the affairs of others. So if that’s the case, why not just a few more planets?”

“I just happen to have a vested interest in Earth. I won’t protect that which isn’t important to me.”

“So I’m important to you, then.”

“I need you to stay alive so I can defeat you.”

“But you didn’t deny it.”

Hissing, Vegeta briskly strode to the door, his grip on the wall strong enough that small fissures quickly blossomed around it.

“This conversation is over, Kakarot. I already said no, and my answer won’t change.”

“I don’t get why though. It’s not like you won’t be able to train. I’m still training so I can defeat Beerus-sama. Unless…is it Bulma and Trunks? Is that it?”

Vegeta left his answer in the air, but Goku slowly pieced it together. By the time he had a solution for Vegeta, though, he was already gone. Goku sat up, his legs crossed, and scratched the back of his head. He probably went too far with that one, hadn’t he.

* * *

 

_“If you decline this offer now, you won’t receive another in the future.”_

  
  
Another two days passed by, and this time, Goku tried a different approach. King Kai once said that Goku was one of the most stubborn people in the universe, and considering that Goku would do anything within reason to get what he wanted, even going as far as to obfuscate the truth to ultimately achieve his goal, there was probably a modicum of truth to that. If Vegeta wouldn’t be persuaded, then he’d just have to break him down until he finally gave in. Which, if Goku thought about it, he preferred anyways. It wasn’t like Vegeta was the type to listen to people in the first place. He usually had his own way of doing things, and in order to be compromised, he had to be pushed to his limits until he finally gave in.

So Goku did just that.

“Vegeta!” Goku flew down to where he was, which happened to be a room on the higher level of Capsule Corp. When Vegeta didn’t even give him so much as a grunt in greeting, his smile sharpened slightly. “Come with me for a bit.”

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Vegeta’s arm and used Instant Transmission to teleport the both of them to one of Goku’s favorite training spots in the Other World: a space in the Kaioshin Realm where galaxies swirled around aimlessly and the edge of the universe was no more than a touch away. It possessed a certain type of calm that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the universe, and he knew that Vegeta would take to it immediately.

“Where is this?”

“This is my favorite spot in the Kaioshin Realm. I don’t like meditating, but when I do meditate, this is where I go. You can also see what happens in other worlds. See?” He released Vegeta’s forearm to probe around the universe with his fingers, gently batting some planets that got in his way, until he found Earth. He spread his fingers out, and then scrolled with his index finger until he found what he was looking for: Goten and Trunks sparring together. “Pretty neat, huh?”

Vegeta stared at Goten and Trunks pensively before he scoffed.

“Don’t think that will change my mind.”

“I didn’t think it would. I just wanted to show you. Though…you’ll be over the Western or Southern part of the universe, won’t you. Then I don’t mind sharing the Northern part, if you wanted. This way, you’d never have to worry about them. You could watch over them whenever you wanted to. Bulma, too.” He slid his finger a tad bit, rotating it clockwise, and Capsule Corp’s windows dimmed and faded, revealing a feverishly working Bulma in her lab. Goku retracted his hand and closed it, and the Earth was gone in the midst of the other thousands of planets in the universe. Without asking, he grabbed Vegeta’s arm again—this time a bit closer to his wrist—and teleported him back to Capsule Corp.

“Well, that was it. Guess I’ll see you around.” He gave Vegeta a little wave before teleporting back home. He felt Vegeta’s ki reaching out for his for a split second—so small and fast that if Goku hadn’t been paying attention, he probably would have missed it—but then it retracted, and Goku knew that it was already working.

So a week after, he tried something else.

He teleported to Vegeta’s house, went through the formalities of talking to Mrs. Briefs, eating his heart out with all the wonderful pastries that she was more than happy to feed him, entertaining Mr. Briefs with questions he had about the gravity machine, and then finally brought a cake to Vegeta, who, surprisingly enough, was lounging around with Trunks in the living room. He hadn’t even flinched when Goku came close, which meant that he already knew he was there. Trunks jumped off the couch and ran towards him with a big grin, and Goku matched it with one of his own, running his fingers through Trunk’s hair.

“I heard from Goten that you’re a Supreme Kai now,” Trunks said, and it never ceased to amaze Goku how direct the kid was. He reckoned that his bluntness probably came from Bulma, but he couldn’t be so sure. Vegeta didn’t really beat around the bush either. “How did that happen?”

Goku placed the plate of cake on the table perpendicular to the couches and sat down right next to Vegeta, wrapping his arm in the back of it, his fingers centimeters away from the nape of Vegeta’s neck. He hadn’t stirred, but his ki spiked, which meant that he was attentively listening. He never did get a chance to hear Goku’s explanation at the party, did he? He supposed that this was a better time than any, especially since he came here to do that in the first place.

“Well,” he started, “the Omni-King was really concerned about the balance of our universe. Since a lot of the Supreme Kai kinda died off after Buu. And Kaioshin-sama was the only one who was watching over us, but he was doing the job of four people. So the Omni-King offered it to me since he liked me a whole lot. Said he would make an exception for me even though I wasn’t technically allowed to do it. I was gonna say no, but I changed my mind when I realized that I could still meet strong people and fight them. And here I am.”

“Woah…so you’re like, a god now?”

“I guess you can say that. You know, Vegeta can become a Supreme Kai too,” Goku said, and he felt the moment that two pairs of eyes landed on him instead of one. He knew that doing it this way was incredibly risky; he was treading a fine line between manipulation and persuasion, and if he pushed in the wrong direction, all of his hard work could blow up in his face. But perhaps that was what made it that much more exciting, because Vegeta knew it too. “The Omni-King is interested in him too.”

He did bring up Vegeta’s name multiple times in their conversations, after all.

Vegeta turned to face him, miffed, no longer feigning unconsciousness. “And you neglected to tell me this before.”

“You didn’t give me a chance to,” Goku replied sourly. “I would’ve told you once you agreed to it.”

“Like hell you would have. Fine, I’ll bite.” He reached forward and finally ate the cake that Goku brought for him with two greedy gulps, dusted his hands on his legs, and stood up. “Well, what are you waiting for? Take me to wherever you need to go. Trunks, tell your mother I’ll be gone for a while.”

Trunks jumped up, bouncing on the soles of his feet. “Okay! Good luck, dad.”

With a grin, Goku teleported them to the Kaioshin Realm, in Goku’s favorite spot, and sought out the Omni-King. While it was true that the Omni-King was a busy guy, he gave Goku means that he could contact him if he needed to. But that was something that Goku would rather leave as an ultimatum, so he would do this instead. Almost as if the Omni-King knew he was looking for him, he appeared out of nowhere with his two stern-faced attendants. Goku waved at him.

“Hey, Omni-King! It’s been a while, huh.”

“Yeah.”

“How’ve you been?”

“Alright.”

“That’s good, that’s good.”

“You wanted me for something, didn’t you?”

Goku laughed a bit nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Was it that obvious? Sorry about that.” He jerked his thumb towards Vegeta. “You know Vegeta, right? The one I told you about? I was wondering if you’d give him permission to become a Supreme Kai too.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Vegeta quickly pieced together what was happening, and he quickly opened his mouth to change his mind. But he was too late; once Vegeta had come into the Kaioshin Realm, he set his fate in stone. He would probably get angry at Goku later. That was fine. He would have several lifetimes to make it up to him.

“Okay.” The Omni-King stepped forward once, and his assistants parted for him as he held out his hand. He watched as a spark of light engulfed Vegeta’s entire body before it finally sizzled on his forehead and out of existence. Goku was already reaching out to catch Vegeta; he knew that it would take a while for his body to adjust to it. After all, the two of them weren’t naturally born gods. They weren’t born of Core; they had no right or jurisdiction to take their spot. But once he woke up, he would be governing the universe with him.

Similar to how the Omni-King thought it fit for Goku to serve him, he thought it fit for Vegeta to serve besides him. And really, that’s all he ever wanted.

* * *

 

_“I know that Saiyans are quite the rambunctious race, so I’m willing to excuse any mishaps that may happen in the future. So long as you fulfill your duties properly.”_

 

 _  
_ It took Goku a long time for Vegeta to forgive him. A long, long time. Months went by without Vegeta uttering a single word to Goku, even though he never failed to spar with him. He apologized too, even went on his hands and knees after six months of silence, but Vegeta hadn’t batted an eyelash. And when he finally got used to his duties as a Supreme Kai, the first thing he did was return back home to Earth. He hadn’t told Goku anything—he hadn’t even told Kaioshin anything—just picked up and teleported to Capsule Corp, enduring Bulma’s long tirades with nothing more than an irritated huff, which set her off even more. But he gave her a small pat on the head afterwards, a small indication that he missed her quite a bit after being gone for almost as long as Goku had been.

He hadn’t returned to the Other World at all that day, much less the Kaioshin Realm, and Goku had really reflected what he did, much as he didn’t want to. A month later, Vegeta came back to the Kaioshin Realm, and while Goku didn’t know what Bulma told him, he knew it must have been nothing but encouragement, judging by the neutral expression on his face. He had his back to Goku, but Goku felt the pull. He followed Vegeta when he flew into the sky.

He sat in their frequented spot on a hill where the galaxies were the closest without having to reach out to them, and Goku joined him. For a moment, Vegeta did nothing more than fist the dry grass next to him, contemplating something. He seemed to come to a decision a little while after.

“I wanted to gain all of my strength on my own. Perhaps you can’t understand this, but as a Saiyan warrior, it was considered a weakness to gain help from another, no matter if they were friend or foe. Even more so for those that survived under the tyranny of Frieza. And far more than gaining strength from another, for me, the Prince of all Saiyans, to gain favor with the omnipotent King of Creation and Time because of someone else…even you must realize how humiliating that is.”

Goku remained silent, and Vegeta’s fingers dug into the ground beneath them.

“Had it been like this, I would have rather remained how I was before. Surely I wasn’t the only one fit for this position?”

“…no, you weren’t.”

“Then why?”

Goku thought about how to best describe the selfishness that he felt.

“Vegeta, if all the Saiyans were revived right now, would you still stay with Nappa and my brother?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just humor me for a second. Would you?”

“Probably,” he answered after a while. “I did work with them for a long time.”

“Then you understand why it couldn’t be anyone else but you.”

Vegeta froze and turned toward Goku, getting a good look at his face, at his downcast gaze. And something he found there must have answered his question, because he leaned back and let out an amused huff.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Goku glanced at him, and testing out the waters, he asked, “So you’re not mad at me anymore?”

“I never said that.”

“But you seem a bit happier now.”

“No, I’m not. You’re just an idiot who doesn’t know what he wants.” He rapped Goku in the head with his knuckles. “So. I’m here now. I’ll probably be around for a few thousand years, just like what you wanted. Are you satisfied?”

“Should I be?”

“You tell me.”

“Well, if I’m honest, yeah. Now we can spar for centuries and get stronger together! Though that’s not what you wanted to hear, right?”

“No, but I’m not surprised.” He stood up, dusting himself off. “Get up, Kakarot. We’re going to start training again.”

Goku beamed, jumping to his feet. For one reason or another, Vegeta had finally forgiven him for what he had done, even though he hadn’t said as much. Vegeta wasn’t one who would readily expose himself, but even so, Goku could tell. He knew all of Vegeta’s habits better than he knew Chichi’s. So he knew that the moment Vegeta’s eyebrows loosened, the tension fizzled out of his mind. And when his shoulders slumped a little, he was relaxed, just as he was whenever he would sit in the sun on Bulma’s porch.

He was resigned, that much Goku could tell, but there was something else there, something that was fragmented in the deepest crevices of his mind that was only now coming together, and it made Goku’s blood pump a little bit harder. He couldn’t give it a name, and he couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but he knew what it was. It was, after all, that same feeling that drove him to Earth from thousands of planets away just to convince Vegeta to accompany him.

Even though he couldn’t figure it now, maybe in the future they’ll be able to tackle it together.

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being longer and more exhausting than I thought sigh. Turned out differently than I wanted or expected too. I'm not satisfied, but oh well.
> 
> Since the ending was way too somber for me to insert this (somehow, I don't even know), here's some funzie parts I left out in the last section:
> 
> \- Kaioshin pretty much lectures them a lot because Goku's a terrible Supreme Kai and runs off into other galaxies to fight other people instead of watching them, and Vegeta doesn't stop him because it's too amusing to watch him and too tempting not to join in
> 
> \- Beerus is pissed that Goku and Vegeta are Supreme Kai now because neither Goku nor Vegeta can go all-out on him anymore, even if they did theoretically become stronger than him. After all, if he dies, then they die in turn. Whis is disappointed, but he moves on a lot smoother than Beerus does
> 
> \- King Kai isn't used to Goku being higher than him on the food chain, but considering that Goku takes advantage of him almost all the time anyways, he learns to begrudgingly accept it.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Edit: So I'm watching the series, and I realize now that the Goku Black arc sort of conflicts with this...like, a lot. At the very least, there should have been more conflict in this story since Goku Black's a Kaioshin...oops. I don't wanna take it down though, it took way too much effort to write this lmao.
> 
> More like...I wrote this when I didn't have a clue of how I could possibly make a fanfiction on an anime like DBZ. I didn't want to write something too outlandish, and because of that I was really restricted by what I thought I could do. This is nothing but petty excuses, but you know.)


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